Taxi Driver Online

Calls for taxi price cuts


Taxi users demand that a price hike, blamed on rising fuel costs, be scrapped now petrol prices have plummeted

CRITICS have demanded that a 50p hike in basic taxi fares, introduced when fuel prices soared last summer, be scrapped.

Prices of petrol and diesel have plummeted since the price hike last June and some taxi users have demanded that the reduction be passed on to the customer.

Clive Bates, who uses licensed cabs twice a week, said: “The drivers were quick enough to demand the increase because of soaring fuel prices.
“I don’t see them volunteering to scrap that emergency measure now that fuel prices are at their lowest for two years.”

Mr Bates, of Croft Road, Newbury, added: “It’s elderly people who have to make lots of short trips that I feel sorry for. With electricity and gas charges all going up it’s just one more expense they don’t need.
“And, besides, it’s the principle of the matter.”

In June newburytoday reported how fares jumped by 50p per journey after taxi drivers begged West Berkshire Council’s licensing committee to help them cope with fuel price rises.

Before that, cab fares had already gone up by 2.5% in April 2008.
Taxi driver representative Rodney Nemeth told the committee at the time that diesel was costing up to £60 a week extra.

He said: “We’ve got no choice but to put diesel in the car. It has cut into our takings hugely.”

He said drivers were having to consider whether they could continue to provide some rural journeys.

“We were hoping that the fuel and oil price rise would be a short term blip, and we're doing our best to hold down fares. The situation, however, appears to have no end,” he said.

Meanwhile cabbies reported a slump in trade as punters tightened their belts to cope with the ongoing credit crunch.

CabCo taxi driver Peter Barnard said: “Fuel is the biggest single cost and it just keeps going up and up and up, where obviously fares don’t.

“It may not be popular among the punters, but my fuel bill is probably 25% more than six or nine months ago.”

This week licensing sub committee chairman Tony Linden (Con, Birch Copse) said: “I totally agree with what is being said about fuel prices and we were aware that this might happen when we made our decision.

“The fares will be reviewed but we first need to consult with the drivers and then go through the legal procedures before any decision can be ratified by full council in May. We need to be fair, not just to the customers but also to the drivers.

“However, it will certainly be looked into.”

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

See that's what happens when you have a rise based on one particular cost.

Base it on a formula and you can mug them off till the cows come home.

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IDFIMH

Down here we had a fare rise back in July, the first in nearly 3 years, I think we deserved it as everything has gone up considerably in 3 years.

Ours was also an average 50p per job increase.

50p in 3 years is nothing really.

Some parts of the new fare structure I wasnt happy about but being a hac I have to set the meter as per tariff sheet.

As a PH I held back way longer than was prudent before putting a moderate Price increase in place in order to ease the customers pain, besides fuel there are other Inflationary costs to absorb...not to mention rises in items needed for personal consumption, If the whiners advocating a Taxi fare cut Take a drop in their personal wages or government benefit handouts..well then I might just consider doing the same, But that aint gonna happen is it...

I mean to say just how busy was this guy - an extra £60 a week if anyone was putting in that much extra then he must have been minting it.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.